Unexpected Help
by CrystalSoul16
Summary: After passing out in a desert, N awakens to find that he was rescued by a man named Wes. He also learns that his timing couldn't have been better, for Wes needs his help. Though in a rough region like Orre, N's going to need his help just to survive.
1. Prologue

The wind was strong and relentless, the sand it whipped up stinging his face. The sun was beating down on him with its harsh heat and light, blinding him and causing sweat to drip down his face. His panting mouth was covered with a cloth, a hooded garment protecting the rest of his exposed flesh from the sun's harmful rays. He had been wandering this desert for what felt like, and likely was, hours. All the while, he never saw any oasis or buildings. His Pokémon were all exhausted from their travels, safely resting in the confines of the red and white orbs he normally despised greatly. He had run out of water a while back, and prayed to Arceus above for some kind of relief from this horrid scenario. He kept his tiring legs moving, as there was no sign of any refuge around yet. He had to keep moving. If he dared to stop, he knew his legs would refuse to move again. They screamed at him, begging for rest. But he trekked on, hoping for some kind of miracle.

His travels had brought him all over the place. He'd seen so many kinds of terrain and foliage and fauna. Yet he hadn't come across such a vast desert before, and with such a lack of plants and wild Pokémon… What kind of region had he brought himself to…? His panting continued, each inhale and exhale heavier than the last. He almost felt like stopping, accepting defeat for his idiocy for just entering the land without prior knowledge of the climate. His legs begged for it…and his attempts to ignore them failed completely as they gave in. He fell over, his face against the burning sand and his tea green hair falling over his eyes and sticking to his face. But as uncomfortable as he felt as he lied there, it felt nice to just stop moving for once. Even with the sand continuing to whip at him, his body thanked him for finally stopping, his aching muscles finally at rest. His heavy pants began to slow down as his eyes started to close.

He wanted to cry. He had come so far without stopping, and he knew if he stayed like this he would likely die. He tried to move his arms and legs, but they were as heavy as lead. He couldn't even find the energy to lift his head from the fiery sands. His vision was blurred from his exhaustion. But he couldn't stop here… He had someone he wanted to return to one day… And that name and face lingered in his mind as his consciousness began to leave him. As he finally passed out, he could've sworn he heard some kind of loud noise not too far away…

* * *

**SO. While I take a small break from "Hiding" to figure out some plot stuff, I am on a mission to give WandererShipping some attention. It is one of those ships that once I started thinkin' about it, I just couldn't stop. Unfortunately, this story doesn't get too shippy, and it may end up bein' rather brief... However, my main goal is to get this ship on the map. It has a name at least, and one or two pieces of fanart, and as far as I know, absolutely NO FANFICTION. Until now anyway. If I can at least get some other WandererShippers out of this, then my efforts are not in vain. I just hope to see more of it out there someday...**

**Anyways, this is sorta based on a headcanon of mine. I imagine that N would have explored all of the other regions of the Pokemon World after he takes off on Reshiram/Zekrom (Reshiram in this). When I thought of that, I started thinkin' about what would happen if he met Wes in Orre. Then other headcanons that will be revealed later started sproutin', and next thing I knew, I had a story in my mind. So I hope this all works out and that I get shippers out of this.  
**


	2. Chapter 1

The sound of fingers drumming against the counter's surface could be heard as the man stared at the television's screen impatiently. He listened to the newscaster's words carefully, waiting to see if a certain topic would be brought up. So far it was nothing but the usual news…thefts, gang activities, shootings, all that typical negative stuff with a touch of pointless advertising. He didn't care about any of that. All he wanted to know about was if a certain rumor going around would be mentioned. As the anchorwoman said her farewells, he let out a sigh. In a way it was a relief that they hadn't spoke of it yet. It was just a rumor after all, but a serious one. He turned off the TV as he prepared to head out before looking at the couch. Keeping his amber eyes locked onto it for a moment, he finally looked over to his companions as they gazed up at him expectantly. Looking back to the sofa, he ran a hand through his sandy-blonde hair.

"…Espeon, can you stay behind and look after him?" he asked, referring to his small pink-furred friend. The creature gave a nod to its master. "Thanks. Umbreon and I will be back before long."

He cast one more glance to the couch, eyeing the green-haired stranger that lay unconscious upon it. He let out a sigh before stepping out with his other partner, this one having black fur adorned with yellow rings. He locked the door to the apartment behind him and made his way down the stairs.

_What the hell am I even going to do with him when he wakes up…?_ He let out a frustrated sigh. He knew helping an unconscious man lying in the desert was the right thing to do and all, but he wasn't quite sure what to do beyond that. _…I guess I'll have to find out what on earth he was even thinking to travel like that… Or I could just help him get back on his feet and send him on his merry way. …Yeah, that'll do._

He made his way to his motorcycle and got on. That whole fiasco made him run behind with meeting with someone, and he didn't want to keep them waiting. Umbreon jumped into the side car, all ready to go. The man smiled at his companion as the machine roared to life. Wasting no time at all, the two drove into the desert at a high speed. Their destination, Pyrite Town.

Espeon sat on the bed and peered out the window as he watched his partners dash away into the horizon. Even after they were no longer in sight, he sat there, his violet eyes gazing where the blue sky met the golden sands. At the speed at which they were travelling, they'd surely reach their destination before long. As such, that means that they should return before long…so long as they didn't run into any trainers. His master wasn't the kind to turn down any battle. Anyone doing such in this land would have their reputation slaughtered, and that was the last thing you needed in a place like that. You'd be subjected to ridicule and nasty rumors. A majority of the citizens in the region were merciless. And if they had even one opportunity to attack the reputation of his master of all people, they'd surely take it.

Espeon wasn't too concerned about that, though. Even though he and Umbreon did better in battle when together, he could easily hold his own for a while. Umbreon's defensive capabilities were great, so he could easily take a hit. What Espeon _was_concerned about, however, was the stranger that his master brought into their home. The three of them were on their way to Pyrite earlier, but they found him lying unconscious on their way. Acting on impulse, their master decided to take him back to their apartment, seeing as how he was still alive. Barely, but he was. With how shallow his breathing was, he was lucky that they had found him when they did. The man hadn't stirred since, and if it weren't for the quiet sound of his breathing, one would think him to be dead.

After lying on the bed for a long while, Espeon finally hopped down from it and maneuvered through the cluttered floor to the couch. He inspected the sleeping man carefully, looking for any signs of movement. Besides the slight rise and fall of his chest from breathing, there wasn't even the slightest change of his positioning. His legs were still hanging off of the arm of the small piece of furniture; one arm was still resting on his torso, the other hanging from the side of the sofa with his hand touching the floor; not even a strand of tea green hair was out of place. Walking closer to where his head was resting, Espeon placed his tiny paws on the edge of the couch to hoist himself up and get a better look at the man. After looking at his expressionless face for a moment, he reached over and pressed a paw to the folded rag on the stranger's forehead. It wasn't that damp anymore. Espeon carefully removed it with his mouth and placed it in the bowl of water that was on the coffee table. After a few moments, he took it back out and stepped away from the man. Once at a safe distance, he shook his head rapidly, causing the wet cloth to spray water droplets everywhere. It's not like he had hands to ring out the rag, so that would have to do. After placing it on the floor and doing his best to fold it back up, Espeon took it back to where the man rested and carefully placed it back on his forehead. After doing that, though, his ears perked up in alarm as the green-haired man gave a soft moan and turned his head to the side slightly. However, he didn't awaken. But surely the movement was a good sign, no matter how slight it was.

Espeon watched him carefully for a few more minutes, just in case there would be any other signs of movement. After not seeing or hearing anything from the man, Espeon returned to his previous location on his master's bed and went back to looking out the window, patiently awaiting his master's return. He hoped that there would be good news waiting for him in Pyrite…

"Are you serious?" The angry voice echoed through the office, as did the sound of hands slamming onto a table. "So it is true and not just some rumor some dumbass started spreading around?"

"Unfortunately, Wes, it appears so," the person behind the desk replied calmly, despite being startled by the volume at which the other man was speaking. "I looked into the rumors and even hacked into the lab's system to see if it had been used for anything recently. There was a sign of recent activity there."

"But was it really someone using the lab or just some curious stranger looking around?"

"I checked into that possibility as well." The person then typed something into his computer, gave a few clicks, and then there was a chart on the television behind him. "If the energy levels were all at a low rate like these," he continued as he gestured to some low spikes on the graph, "then I would easily brush it off as little more than a passerby. But, as you can clearly see…" He now gestured to an alarmingly high spike. "…There was a high amount of energy used for a brief period of time. And you can see that spike in energy shows up quite a few times, though there is a long period of time between each one. Whoever was or is using it must have thought that using it briefly would make it harder to notice…"

"…And I suppose there isn't anything else in there that would cause that kind of energy level?"

"I doubt so." The man named Wes slammed his hands down on the table before him, startling both Umbreon and his conversational partner. The snarl on his face was a clear expression of his rage.

"Fuck…! Can't they just leave this matter alone to die already? They've tried it twice, and failed both times. So why try again if they're bound to fail?"

"Maybe they're just a firm believer in the phrase 'third time's the charm'?"

"Nett, this isn't funny!"

"I never said it was. I was just trying to lighten the mood… Oh well, regardless, I have no idea what would motivate them to do this. Whatever it is, they really must be confident that they'll get away with it… Perhaps since no one really expected this to happen for a third time, they used that as their cover? And kidnapping Pokémon isn't necessarily uncommon out here, so there's another cover for them to use."

"Well, whatever made them decide to do this doesn't really matter now at this point… What is important is that it's happened, and we need to stop it without attracting too much attention. I'd rather keep this at the rumor level, if at all possible."

"Well, I don't know how well that's going to work out. I'll at least do what I can to make sure that it doesn't appear on the news."

"Thanks, that'll help a lot… As long as I can get this taken care of without much notice, I'm fine. Don't wanna get the people all worked up again."

"Though there is a problem, Wes. How will you know what Pokémon to look out for?"

"Easy. You can look up what Pokémon are currently missing; hell, you can just run by the Police Station and ask. Then just narrow the searches down by hacking into the lab's system and trying to find out how many have been converted, and if you can, figure out what they are. I won't make a move until then."

"That's a lot to ask for, you know… It's one thing to check the energy levels in the system, and I can base the number of Pokémon off of that. But finding out what they are is another story… But I'll see what I can do, just for you, Wes."

"Thanks, Nett. I know I can count on you. …Can I ask you something else before I go?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"…Do you by any chance know a tall guy with long green hair?"

"Green hair…? You mean like Cail?" The expression on Wes's face immediately turned to a disgusted one, his resentment towards the name becoming obvious.

"No, no, not that bastard," Wes growled. "The guy I'm talking about has long hair. I mean, really long. And the shade of green is lighter than…his."

"…No, can't say that I've seen or heard of anyone like that before… Why do you ask?"

"Well damn… I was hoping you knew who he was. I found him unconscious in the desert earlier, and was hoping someone would know him…"

"Is he okay?"

"He was lying unconscious in the sand and possibly dehydrated. Do you really need to ask if he's okay? Anyways, since we're done here, I better head back and check on him."

"Wow, Wes… You always act like a tough guy, but you're really a softy deep down, aren't you?"

"It was the right thing to do, that's all. Anyways, just contact me when you get the info, okay?"

And without another word, Wes and Umbreon exited the office and left the building. So the rumors were true… At least everyone just believed it to be a rumor. And knowing that Nett would prevent the ONBS from broadcasting any news about it was a big help. If it stayed away from the news, everyone would hopefully just keep saying that it was just a rumor. He just had to make sure it stayed that way.

Now, moving on to the next issue on hand… Nett didn't know who that man was… If he had Espeon with him, he'd go through Battle Square and see if anyone knew him. But he didn't, and there were a lot of people there… He'd just have to avoid it for now and settle with asking the man directly once he woke up…if he would even cooperate… Now that he thought about it, Wes didn't know anything about what this man was really like. As far as he knew, the guy could be a deranged psychopath that would kill Wes the second he had the chance. Well, whoever he was, it didn't matter. The second the guy was back to normal, he would be out of his life for good. With that mindset, Wes started up his motorcycle and the duo made their way back home. Though he couldn't help but wonder if the stranger had woken up while he was gone…

Espeon's eyes continued to stare out at that vast desert as he patiently waited for Wes to return. It shouldn't be much longer now. He looked over his shoulder at the stranger on the couch again. Besides that moan and slight head turn earlier, he still hadn't stirred in the slightest. Looking back at the window, Espeon continued to wonder when the man was going to wake up. Surely it had to be soon. But hopefully it would be when Wes was back. Though after a few minutes, it looked like the preferred scenario wasn't going to take place. The man began to moan and move his head around slightly. Espeon immediately went over to him and watched as he stirred in his sleep. He let out a small cry, and the man's movements slowed, his face now in Espeon's direction. Finally, the man's eyes opened slightly and gazed at the creature. Espeon let out another cry.

_"…Are you alright…?"_

Upon hearing that, the stranger slowly and weakly lifted his hand from the floor and cautiously reached towards the Pokémon. Espeon remained alert as he watched the man's actions. But as soon as that frail hand brushed against his soft pink fur, he relaxed. The man had such a gentle touch, it was hard to even think of him as any sort of threat. Espeon tilted his head and looked over the man's face. He softly stroked at that fur a few more times and gave the creature a weak smile. Then his eyes closed again and his hand fell back to the floor as he slipped back into sleep. Just to be sure, Espeon got closer and pressed and ear against the man's chest. There was definitely a heartbeat. Letting out a sigh of relief, the Pokémon noticed that the damp cloth had fallen to the floor. He picked it up and placed it back on the stranger's forehead, though it was hard since his head was turned to the side.

Espeon remained by the man's side, looking from his face to his hand. There was no way this man could be a danger to him or his companion and master. That touch and smile were far too sincere and gentle. It was a relief to know that they could trust him…for now, anyway.

Eventually, Espeon heard the sound of a key in the lock and a doorknob turning. He swiftly turned and saw his master and Umbreon walk in. Though Espeon was happy to see them, they seemed upset. He concluded that they didn't hear any good news. The rumors were true. Regardless, the Pokémon walked up to Wes and rubbed against his leg. His ears folded back as the man crouched down and pat him on the head.

"Hey, Espeon… I guess you can already tell, huh?" After hearing a yip of confirmation, Wes stood back up and looked at the couch. "So did he ever wake up?" Espeon nodded and bounded back over to the couch, returning to watching the man. Wes and Umbreon walked over as well. "He doesn't look like he moved much… So did he say anything?" The pink furred creature shook his head. Wes frowned and placed a hand on the stranger's cheek. "…Well, it feels like his temperature has gone down. That's good." He looked over to the glass of water on the side table. "…Well, hopefully he'll wake up and drink something soon…"

Wes sighed and took off the device on his arm before removing his blue coat and hanging it them by the door. He grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and flipped on the TV before sitting down on his bed. Umbreon joined him, but Espeon continued to watch their sleeping guest. He took a sip of his beverage and let out another sigh. So much was going on now… First that rumor turns out to be true, leading him to so many complications. And then he has an unconscious man on his couch that he knows nothing about. He could end up complicating things more for him in the end… Though, based on how Espeon was acting, he couldn't be as bad as he thought, right? Shaking his head, Wes tried to clear his mind and relax for a while. He tried to focus on watching the television, but he ended up staring at the man more than the screen.

…_He has to wake up eventually…_ He ran an irritated hand through his hair. _But I don't have time to babysit some stranger from the desert. The sooner I get him out, the better…_

* * *

**Oh yeah, I already have the first chapter done. Even though it is a piece of shit... Oh well, I'll just move right along now... I already have an idea for what I'll do for chapter 2, so hopefully I'll get that out to make up for this crap.**

**Also, I base the time in which the games' plots take place on game release dates, unless stated otherwise. So, since Colosseum came out in 2004, and XD takes place five years after the events of that game, and Black and White came out in 2011, and this story takes place a year after N left...this is sometime in the 2012 year (probably mid to late year...ahead of our current time). As such, the events of XD were three years ago. So I'm trying to keep the locations and such as current as I can. Hopefully that explains why the ONBS is there. ...I probably didn't need to explain all of that here, but it's almost 4AM and I'm tired as hell... So yeah, Chapter 2 soon...I hope.  
**


End file.
